The debate about anonymous sources not only rages in New York and Washington (Judith Miller, New York Times, is still in jail!), but also in Addis Abeba. According to the Committee to protect journalists, "Ethiopia's Supreme Court has sentenced a newspaper editor to one month in jail on a contempt charge after the editor refused to identify an unnamed source who criticized an earlier court ruling.

Tamrat Serbesa, editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language weekly Satanaw, was sentenced in connection with the paper's coverage of a Supreme Court verdict in a case involving the National Election Board. The court rejected the opposition CUD party's claim that the election board improperly announced provisional results of the May 15 parliamentary elections before the final count was determined.

On July 7, the Supreme Court ordered Serbesa and Andualem Ayle, editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language weekly Ethiop, to reveal the sources of anonymous quotes published in their newspapers criticizing the verdict, including one in Satanaw attributed to an unnamed lawyer who deemed the verdict "shameful."

Ayle was also ordered to pay a fine of 2,000 birr (US$220).

Source: Committee to protect journalists